Sir Roger Carr is in pole position to become the next chairman of BAE Systems,
the British defence giant.

The Sunday Telegraph understands that the leading City figure and chairman of Centrica is favoured by the board’s nominations committee and Nick Rose, the senior independent director leading the search for a replacement for the present chairman, Dick Olver.

Although a final decision has not been made, it is believed that Sir Roger, one of the City’s best-known figures and the outgoing president of the CBI, will be formally appointed within weeks.

It is understood that both the company and Sir Roger, the deputy chairman of the Court of the Bank of England, are carrying out due diligence in relation to the role at the FTSE 100 business.

One source cautioned that “nothing is certain” but pointed to the due diligence process as evidence that both parties were serious about the choice.

A second source dismissed suggestions that Sir Roger’s lack of international experience, particularly in the US, would prevent him from taking the job, which is still seen by many as one of the plum positions in the Square Mile.

BAE’s American business is run by its own board and has its own security clearance with the US authorities. In America, it is seen as a separately operating division.

The appointment of Sir Roger will need to be approved by the Government, which holds a “golden share” in the company.

Rivals for the role considered by the BAE board are believed to have included Sir John Rose, the former chief executive of Rolls-Royce, who is thought to have withdrawn from consideration for the post.

Sir Roger’s appointment would signal a new broom at the company following last year’s aborted €34bn (£29bn) merger with European rival EADS.

Following the collapse of merger talks last October, a number of shareholders called for Mr Olver, who has been chairman since July 2004, to depart.

Central to these calls was Neil Woodford, of Invesco Perpetual, who wrote to the company calling for Mr Olver to relinquish his position.

The failure of the deal also led to the departure of Peter Mason, the former senior independent director.

In March this year, it emerged that headhunter Spencer Stuart had been hired to find a replacement for Mr Olver.

As well as his role at the CBI, which he hands over to BT chairman Sir Mike Rake at the end of June, Sir Roger is chairman of Centrica.

He joined the board of the British Gas owner in January 2001 and has been chairman since May 2004. He is due to step down from the energy giant shortly.

Sir Roger’s other significant roles have included the chairmanship of Cadbury during its £10.2bn battle with, and subsequent takeover by, Kraft Foods. The deal caused controversy at the time, with some politicians claiming the American food conglomerate should not be allowed to buy the British confectioner.

But in an interview after the deal, Sir Roger defended the Cadbury board’s decision to finally back the takeover, saying the British public “saw Cadbury as an Enid Blyton fantasy”.

“Here was a 200-year-old, family-owned chocolate maker rooted in its community. The truth couldn’t have been more different – it had lost its way for some time, sold more chewing gum than chocolate and sold about 80pc of its goods around the world,” he said.

Although he has no specific knowledge of the defence world, in October 2010 it was reported that he had been approached to be the Ministry of Defence’s lead non-executive director, a role which eventually went to Standard Life chairman Gerry Grimstone.

However, he began his working life as a computer programmer at Boots, before joining Honeywell and then engineering firm Ley’s, which was bought by Sir Nigel Rudd’s Williams Holdings. BAE declined to comment.